That's what Friends are For!!

Well, my friends Vera and Val strike again! Vera would not drop the baby shower idea. She was insistant despite having many things going on in her life right now as well. Both her parents are unwell and she has a lot on her plate. No shower was not an option. I would not even give her a list of people to invite. She figured it all out herself. Initially, I went myself ,as the princess was sleeping. Shortly after Dave walked in with Jane.

Here I am showing her off!

                                             Friend and amazing pastry chef Stacey Sheppard made this oh so pretty cake and all these cupcakes. Just delicious and stunning to look at!



A closer look.

Still tired Daddy!

The gang! Val next to me in blue and Vera behind her with black sweater and silver top.

This was the biggest surprise of all. In an earlier blog post, I had mentioned International China Concern. A Christian organization that has a program at Jane'sorphanage. Everyone had donated!  This was a wonderful idea.$300 was donated to Kayla's project in Hengyang. It made me cry. Now, that is thoughtful. People  are still giving me money! Thank you so much everyone!

http://english.chinaconcern.org/about/locations/hengyang

                               Time to go home and go back to bed. Mommy wiping happy tears!

This little girl has touched more lives than ours. She has brought tears to many eyes with her beauty and sweet personality. She is loved by many.

Happy 1st Birthday baby Jane

We were only home a few days when our baby turned 1! I was thinking I would do a princess party.... surprise! What did you all think I was going to theme this as, dinosaurs or transformers....not! Anyway, things didn't quite work out the way I  planned, mainly because most of Jane's brothers couldn't keep their eyes open long enough to celebrate with her. The jet lag was bad. We were all very, very tired. Dave's parents were at our house when we got home on Friday Nov. 19. They wanted to celebrate Jane's birthday with her before they went home on Sunday. Dave's mom made a little cake for her and his parents gave her a My First Diamond initial necklace, a hat and mittens and her first Baby Alive dollie. So that was celebration #1.

Celebrating with Nanny's cake.

Brothers gathered around.

Enjoying Nanny's cake-num num!!

So Monday Nov. 22 was the big day. I was so thrilled to have my little girl home at last, and to have her home for her first birthday, well, that was a big treat in itself. I hung the banners. I blew up the balloons. I got the baby size cake. She had the princess wand and 3 different princess crowns. After all a girl needs to have choices! I bought her a little toy. Then, we waited. We waited for her brothers to come home  from school. Then we waited for Daddy to come home from work. Remember now, we are all walking zombies. Well, half our house was asleep by 6 pm. We could not wake them. John and Jack would not even wake up to eat. Dave had to carry them to their beds. This happened again Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening. By now, I am panicking. Jane still has not had her little family party! I was taking no more chances. Thursday morning when everyone was wide awake, we had our baby girls birthday party. Before everyone walked out that door and left me with the guilt we sang Happy Birthday, had cake, kissed our baby and gave her presents. She has been given so many gifts since we arrived home on Friday. Thank you everyone for your kindness.

It's about time! Come on with the cake for cryin' out loud!

What seems to be the problem anyway!

Ok!

Are you for real? It is 8 am!

What do I do?

We'll blow the candle out for you Jane!

I really don't know what is going on here. I just want my steamed egg!

Ok..it is getting more interesting!

I made this little bear for Jack a few years ago. We were watching Little Bear together when Mama Bear made Little Bear a bear with a fishing pole. They called him Fisherman Bear. Jack said he wished he had a Fisherman Bear, so right there and then I made him one. This morning he went right away and got that special bear and gave it to his sister as a birthday gift. Now, isn't that something! That is love. I just thought it was so thoughtful it brought tears to my eyes. What a boy! His world has changed so much, yet he has embraced it with grace and love. He truly loves his little sister.

Ok..so daddy needs a photography course.

So..our baby is 1. We are.... so grateful, so thankful, so blessed, so lucky, so in love, so looking forward to Christmas. It's all good!



Special friend

Jane has a new friend who likes to visit with her, Shae Lynn. Shae Lynn is 12,the same age as our second son Jacob. She has come to visit a few times over the last few weeks. Sometimes she brings her sister Mia and  her brother Tai but usually she likes to come herself and we love having her. Jane is very comfortable with her and we look forward to Shae Lynn, Mia and Tai being Jane's new China cousins.

Getting to know the place!

 I can't believe Jane has been home almost 3 weeks. It is such a busy time of year. Christmas is a couple of weeks away and NO! I am not ready. The princess is doing great! She is in discovery mode. Favorite toy, my pine cones and decorative balls. She loves to take them out and roll them around. She is crawling around everywhere and walking with her push along toy. Favorite place to be though is in mama's arms! She is a great sleeper -12 hrs and 3 hr nap everyday unless we are out and about. She is a joy.

                                                       She just loves these!

                                               Look at the mess!

                                               

                                                    Crawling to the island.

Tu Tu cute!

Thank You Mary

There is a Chinese Proverb that reads:
"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." - Chinese Proverb
I believe this. I really do. Mary came into my life unexpectedly. I just did a search for Jane's orphanage and came across this wonderful lady. Mary, is the mother of 4 biological children who adopted Lexi last year from the same orphanage that Jane was in. I emailed her and had the opportunity to meet her and her wonderful family in September when Dave and I went to Arizona for a conference. We are connected. You just know when you have a connection to someone. It makes me realize yet again that we are all the same inside. It doesn't matter where we live, what color our skin is, what shape our eyes are, whether  we speak the same language or not. We all feel, we all care, we all love. We say our girls are cousins. They are from the same place. They will be forever connected. Mary and Lexi are very important to me. Mary is the one who posted my pictures and blog posts everyday while I was in China. I am very grateful. Thank you so much Mary. Visit soon!

                                                  Mary and Lexi

                                                          Lexi

Bonnie

Welcome to your new home Jane!

                                                             Welcome Jane.

A tea party awaits!

                                                             Home at last!

                                                  Meeting Nina

Meeting my dear friend and welcome decorator Vera.

Do you all know how long I have been waiting to have a tea party!!

                                             Meeting Poppy Brentnall

Meeting Nanny Brentnall

                                            My dear friend and welcome decorator Val.

                                                                  Auntie Vera

                                                            Mommy's girl

                                            Checking out her nursery

                    

My dearest friends Vera and Val.

Friday evening Jane arrived home. What a feeling! Finally, our little girl was home. A family, a new life.  We had quite the welcome when we arrived. Nanny and Poppy Brentnall were here. They had a big banner on our garage door that read WELCOME  HOME WELCOME HOME. My dear friends, Vera Avery and Val Maidment had decorated the entire front enterance. Big pink balloons hung on the front door, beautiful wooden blocks that said WELCOME JANE, hung over the door, a bottle of champage and a panda ornament sat in my urn, little rocks with the words KISSES HAPPY and SMILE surrounded it. Colorful banner was strung from the overhang and the best part of all was, there was a tea party waiting for us.
We were all very very tired and so happy to be home.